HYS teams clean upin 3v3 tournament

HUDSON -- Three of four Hudson Youth Soccer teams finished among the top five in their divisions to qualify for a national 3v3 tournament.

The Under-7 Girls Li'l Wolverines were runners-up, the U-11 Wolverines placed fourth and the U-6 Silver Bullets fifth in the Got Milk Southern Regional on Saturday and Sunday in Sanford. Only the U-9 Cobras failed to qualify for the Got Milk Nationals on Jan. 18-19 at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex.

"I was very confident that all our teams were going to do well," said Hudson vice commissioner Paul Vescio, who also coaches the Wolverines.

In the 3v3 format, each team fields three players, halves are reduced from 30 to 12 minutes and the fields measure 30 by 40 yards rather than the traditional 50-by-100 size. Neither team has a goalie.

"It's a very, very fast game," Vescio said.

The Li'l Wolverines (4-1) lost the division final, 4-1 to the Orlando Eagles. Haley Walker scored for Hudson off an assist from Logan McGee, who had a team-high 10 goals.

Hudson defeated the Orlando Western Stars 3-2 in the semifinals with McGee scoring twice and Walker once. Jessica Bess had two assists and Kristina Krupka an assist. McGee scored five goals in the first game, a 6-2 win over the Fort Myers Cheetahs.

The U-11 Wolverines (3-2-1) won three of their first four games, defeating the Fort Myers Lightning and Tampa Westchase by matching 7-3 scores. John Fox had a hat trick and Scott Combs two goals against the Lightning. In the win over Westchase, Ivan Montes had a hat trick and Combs scored twice.

P.J. Vescio only scored twice in the series but had the most timely goal. He netted the winner with three seconds left in a 3-2 win over the West Pasco Wolves.

The Silver Bullets (6-1) were led by Sean Connor Fluke's 23 goals and two assists. Gregory Alves and Nathan Binder each contributed five goals.

THUNDER ROLLS: The U-14 West Pasco Thunder won a division title in the St. Augustine 3v3 Challenge on July 27-28.

"We kind of shocked those teams," said West Pasco assistant coach Richard Cattell, noting his team had never played a 3v3 game.

The Thunder defeated Profection 6-4 in the final after 4-3 and 8-4 wins over Ormond Apollo and the Cobras, respectively. West Pasco's Marc Langlois scored five goals against the Cobras.

The Thunder advances to the Florida Challenge 3v3 State Championships next June. West Pasco has two championships and two runner-up finishes in its past four tourneys.

OLYMPIC FINALIST: India Surlis, a Gulf freshman, made the top five in two of five events at the Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympics.

The 14-year-old placed fourth in the 200-yard breaststroke and fifth in the 100 breast in last month's competition at the International YMCA in Orlando.

Surlis set a personal-best with a time of 2 minutes and 53.25 seconds in the 200 breast. She swam the 100 breast in 1:18.95.

A member of New Port Richey Aquatics, Surlies also competed in the 50 freestyle, 100 free and 200 individual medley.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright